The Uldaman Job
by Ian Reid
Summary: In the Badlands, the ruins of Uldaman have been found. And one mage recruits the help of four heroes to aid him and uncover the deepest darkest secrets hidden within. Still in the works, possible updates once a month. Reviews optional and welcome.


The Uldaman Job

By

Ian Reid

Chapter 1: You've Been Recruited!

The Stonefire Tavern was relatively empty, save for the few Dwarves at the bar locked in contest to out-drink the other. At one particular table in the corner, four adventurers gathered, each one holding an unrolled parchment in hand and staring at the other suspiciously.

"I don't care if it's one of you that sent this," said the first, a Night-Elf druid, "but surely this has to be a joke or something." The second figure to the Night-Elf's left raised a hand to stroke one of the long tentacles dangling from his chin. The Draenei held out his parchment in front of the Night-Elf to express his similar irritation.

"No doubt it was not a joke that we all received the same invitation," the Draenei said in his thick accent. "There is purpose in our unforeseen gathering."

"And what would that be?" the shortest of the four asked. She stood on the table to not just be seen, but to have a better look at the other three. The Gnome held out her parchment in turn. "There had better be a damn good purpose to drag me back here to Ironforge."

"Calm yourself, Gnome," the fourth said comforting. "Perhaps the shaman is right." This one was human, clad in dirty and dented plate-mail, hand-me-downs from the veteran paladin who trained her. Her black hair was short and tied back out of her face. In front of her, her gauntlets and helmet sat on the table. She scanned the parchment once more, the tenth time she read it, attempting to figure out the sweeping curled ink letters. She's never seen any handwriting like this before. The four looked up at the commotion of a Dwarf passing out at the bar and his comrades cheering in victory, only to pass out in turn.

The Night Elf spoke again. "If it was some purpose we came in the possession of these invitations, then whoever sent them means to meet us."

"Indeed you are right," said a voice near the entrance. All four looked over upon a human clad in ornate blue robes trimmed in gold. On his left hand he wore a gold ring set with a ruby. His hair was like molten copper, running down past his shoulders and a bushy beard hanging from his chin. He moved towards the four with several strides. "And here I am to meet you all."

The Gnome spoke her distrust at the approaching man. "And just who the hell are you?" she asked, rather gratingly. The robed man held out a hand in comfort to the impatient Gnome.

"Now, now, Kadililly," the mage said kindly. "No need to be upset." The woman stood from her seat at the table, to face him.

"All you've succeeded to do so far are raise more questions than answers," she said sternly. "It seems you know who we are, yet we know not of you."

The Night Elf crossed his arms and nodded. "I agree," he said. "A little explanation would be nice right about now."

The human nodded slowly, almost elegant in his posture. He reached one hand into his opposite sleeve, pulling forth a gold ring with an ornate seal on the top. The four present raised an eyebrow at this unsure of what all to make of its significance.

"I am Almaren LeStadt," he said finally, "Mage and assistant to the Alliance Division of Archaeology." He tucked the signet ring back away safely in his robe sleeve.

"Yeah, great, whatever," Kadililly crossed her arms still unconvinced. "Not seeing the relevance here."

Almaren chuckled lightly at Kadililly's pout. "To the point, I've called you four here to help me with a job," he said. "I've selected you, out of the hundreds of heroes of the Alliance because I want nothing more than the best," He looked to each of them, Orniece first, "Orniece Stormlight, Champion of the Light and Crusader of Westfall. You led the farmers against Riverpaw Gnoll attacks and held the line against their numbers for countless days and nights," he looked to the Night Elf, "Davirien Ashthorn, Druid of Darnassus and Defender of Ashenvale from the Horde," he looked to Kadililly, "Kadililly Coghopper, Scout of Gnomeregan capable of standing toe-to-toe with countless foes taller than you."

"Damn straight!" Kadililly added.

"And Valhuun," Almaren turned to the Draenei, "Brilliant Alchemist and Shamanic healer of the Draenei. Your spiritual knowledge to harness the power of the earth to heal the wounded is second to none. I chose you because you are the best. And I wanted nothing less."

"You have called us for a special reason, yes?" Valhuun asked.

Almaren nodded. "Yes, I did," he said. "But before I get to the details, would anyone care for a drink?" The four looked among one another.

"No, thank you, I don't drink," said Davirien.

"I've sworn an oath of sobriety," added Orniece.

"I don't drink before a job," Kadililly answered.

"I will have water," Valhuun requested.

"Fair enough," Almaren said, ordering two mugs of clear spring water. Finally, Almaren after a swig of his water, opened one of his bags slung around his shoulder, and after a moment of rummaging, found a rolled parchment. He removed it and set it on the table. The other four looked upon the parchment. Upon it was a scrawled sketch of a stature, wide-shouldered and covered in runes. Beside that was a roughly-drawn, unfinished map of pathways.

"There is talk of ruins found in the Badlands," Almaren said. "The Explorer's League of Ironforge has requested an investigation into it. Mainly, me. I have asked you four specifically for help on this job."

"What were the ruins, exactly?" Orniece asked, looking at the statue sketch.

"The League has only been able to make some guesses," Almaren replied, "but they came to the conclusion it's a vault left by the Ancients. They managed to retrieve this from one such chamber, the farthest they managed to get before they had to turn back." He reached into his bag once again pulling out with a wrapped swath of cloth in his hand. He unwrapped it carefully, revealing an ornate glittering gold disc, decorated with a large diamond set in the center. On the edge was a round opening, as if it fit onto something.

"This was found in Titan ruins?" Orniece asked. Almaren wrapped it up and replaced it in his bag.

"A rock that size has got to be worth some money!" said Kadililly. "So where do we fit into all of this?"

"I need a team to help me delve into the ruins and learn whatever secrets it holds," said Almaren. "And you all will be rewarded a great deal for your troubles."

"How much are we talking?" Davirien asked, now clearly curious.

"Twenty percent split," said Almaren. The other four murmured surprised at the amount offered. "The Explorer's League were willing to pay a healthy sum of money for adventurers to aid them."

"I'm in," Kadililly said with hardly another thought.

"I suppose I'm intrigued too," said Orniece. "You have my aid, Almaren LeStadt."

"I have nothing better to do," Davirien shrugged. "What's the hell. I'm in."

"I will aid you," said Valhuun finally. "I am interested in this adventure of yours, Almaren LeStadt." Almaren finished his mug of spring water.

"Then it's settled!" he said. "Tomorrow, we shall depart to Thelsamar in Loch Modan, and follow a trail southward into the Badlands. I guarantee this will be an adventure unlike any you've had yet!"

Author's Commentary: I really wanted to write a dungeon-crawling story for a long while. Warcraft just has the potential. If I had the help, the software and script, I'd easily make this story into a Machinima. These characters here are all alts of mine I've had one time or another and I figured they'd all make the best kind of party and group out there. Or will they? I can't say for certain. This story took me a rather great deal of time, I think because I didn't feel like something didn't work or fit. Overall, I'm relatively happy with how this chapter turned out. It's still very close to how I imagined the scene to play out, how all the characters met up, and how we know them all. Originally, the concept was Almaren would be sitting at the tavern, and one by one the characters would enter and introduce themselves. I wanted to have some racial variety in the cast, to give each character something different, and before you say there's two humans, there's only one. That's all I'm willing to really hint at this point, though I think it's relatively easy to figure that out here. So this is the first chapter and I'll be back with the next one!


End file.
